Bionifly

An interactive sculpture that explores the intersection of technology, nature, and human interaction

Bionifly

TIMELINE

1 week

SKILLS

Arduino, Rapid Prototyping

SETTING

Rhode Island School of Design

TEAM

Individual, Advised by Jaimie An

We are currently pursuing a patent for this work, so we unfortunately cannot share more at this time. Please reach out with any questions!

Background

This project was a part of Open Hardware, a course at RISD that explored open source hardware and software such as Arduino, Processing, and 3D modeling and printing. The prompt was to create an interactive sculpture that responds to environmental stimuli.

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[data-wf-bgvideo-fallback-img] { display: none; } @media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) { [data-wf-bgvideo-fallback-img] { position: absolute; z-index: -100; display: inline-block; height: 100%; width: 100%; object-fit: cover; } }

Context

Bionifly is a combination of 3d printed parts, motors, and living moss. This piece is a purposeful blend of organic and inorganic material to showcase how nature and technology work with and against each other. I harvested the moss from outside the Brown Design Workshop to incorporate into the sculpture.

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11 million tons
of textile waste

12 million tons
of furniture waste

A constant feedback loop between the sculpture and the viewer, emotions are translated into the movements of the feathers, creating a pattern of their expressions.

Happy

Fear

Sad

RESEARCH

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74%

Said buying sustainable products was important to them

79%

Hold onto sentimental items

Users kept sentimental items to "memorialize that precious happy time"

We then synthesized these findings, setting requirements for our design that would:

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1. Foster emotional connections by documenting the story behind the original materials.

2. Encourage sustainable consumption through durable, utility focused products.

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Dr. Christine Metz, PhD
Endometriosis Researcher
Feinstein Institute for Medical Research

Dr. Jennifer Unger MD, MPH
OBGYN
Brown University

Celinda Kofron PhD
Biomedical Engineering Dean
Brown University
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Aparna Kola
Biomedical Engineer
Nextgen Jane

IDEATION + Prototyping

I 3D printed the butterfly wings, base, and mechanical components, and custom designed hinges using Fusion 360 to translate the rotational movement of the servo into the vertical movement of each wing. My circuit consisted of two servo motors and an ultrasonic sensor in order to sense and respond when a person approached. I wrote the code for Bionifly using C++ in the Arduino IDE.

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The ultrasonic sensor detected if there was motion within 1 foot of the sculpture. If there was, my code initiated a random sequence of movements between 0 and 80 degrees. This randomness is meant to mimic the random wing movements of a real butterfly.

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After incorporating user feedback, high fidelity prototyping consisted of iterating on form and material using PLA, TPU, and silicone.

If you would like to learn more about this work, please reach out to me!

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